New worries as Labour's housing targets are scrapped
It's one of the hottest political issues both nationally and locally: the need for new houses and where to build them. But with the Con-Lib Dem Coalition government scrapping Labour's housing targets, what now?
At Mickleover, on the rural edge of urban Derby, residents have campaigned to save the view from their homes across the fields and rolling hills of Derbyshire. Until the new government's change of policy, the land had been earmarked for almost 3,500 new homes.
One resident Pam McCahey told me:
The Campaign to Protect Rural England estimates the government's housing targets in the East Midlands - up to 2026 - was heading towards half a million new homes. The annual target is 21,500.
"The level of housing being proposed was excessive. You can't really predict growth over 20 years. It's like trying to forecast the weather in a month's time," says Lisa Hopkinson, of the CPRE.
Now future housing targets will be decided by local councils and their elected politicians.
On the northern edge of Coalville in Leicestershire, farmland here has been designated for some of the additional 10,000 homes planned for the town. The Conservative leader of North West Leicestershire Council, Councillor Richard Blunt, wants to halve that target.
"We understand what the people want. We understand where they want the houses and how many they want. Top-down targets from central government always seem wrong. And it is wrong."
The Communities Secretary Eric Pickles has already written to local councils telling them to ignore Labour's targets. But is the coalition government's housing policy already on shakey foundations?
Lisa Hopkinson from the CPRE believes that:
The National Housing Federation is now warning that housing waiting lists will rise. It says there are already between 300,000 to 400,000 people in the East Midlands wanting a new home.
At Westminster, the pressure's now on to officially demolish Labour housing targets - through legislation. It won't be a moment too soon for the new Tory MP for South Derbyshire, Heather Wheeler. She was the leader of the district council for South Derbyshire.
"We are getting rid of those top down housing targets. It's very important. We've got communities dying on their feet. Those villagers need new growth and sympathetic housing, and we've got other areas that have had huge growth and large estates. They need a settling down period," she said.
The East Midlands is one of Britain's fastest growing regions. The population's up. The demand for new homes isn't going away. And if they are not being built in your back yard, just where will they go now?
Hello. My name is John Hess. I'm the BBC's Political Editor for the East Midlands and this blog will offer my musings on the political scene from Westminster to closer to home. 
